Have you ever shared a book with someone by reading it aloud to them? I’m sure you have to your children and your grandchildren. I know I did. I loved those storybook reading times at night when my children were little. I can still remember my oldest two sitting on the edge of the bed together listening as I read a long book, chapter by chapter. Funny that I can’t remember the book, but it might have been Tom Sawyer. I do remember reading a line that said somebody was going to get a thrashing and I asked my son who might have been four or five if he knew what that meant. He said he thought somebody was going to throw trash all over them. We also read many library picture books and that same son could pretend read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel without missing a word because he had it memorized. Good book memories.
I then enjoyed reading to my grandchildren when they came to visit. Since I was a grandma, we sometimes read four or five books before it was time to sleep. Once, when my oldest granddaughter who probably did get the most spoiling was here, I read one of my young adult novels, all of it the same night. That girl never wanted to go to sleep.
Rudolph Ernst “Reading a Book”
But I have never sat down with an adult to read aloud to her or him. I considered it when I was sitting with Mom after she struggled with dementia, but that was too late. She could no longer follow a story line reading herself or listening. But I did have a reader tell me she’d read my book to her husband and sister-in-law who neither one were in good health.
Mom’s mother once told me that the best times of her life were when she and my grandfather would be sitting and reading together. Not aloud, but in the same room, each with a book in hand. I used that thought and feeling for Nadine and Victor in my Rosey Corner books.
I did have Ruth and Adria connect through books in my most recent novel, River to Redemption by reading aloud to one another. It wasn’t that unusual in those days when there were no televisions or radios. There were books and stories to share. But in my research for my current work in progress, I have been reading some of Emily Post’s Etiquette book. Here’s a bit of her piece on Manners at Home, from the 1922 edition.
In the present day of rush and hurry, there is little time for “home” example. To the over-busy or gaily fashionable, “home” might as well be a railroad station, and members of a family passengers who see each other only for a few hurried minutes before taking trains in opposite directions. The days are gone when the family sat in the evening around the fire, or a “table with a lamp,” when it was customary to read aloud or to talk. Few people “talk well” in these days; fewer read aloud, and fewer still endure listening to any book literally word by word.
I suppose the more things change, the more, in some ways, they stay the same. The mention of only a few hurried minutes for a family to be together before being off to more activities can certainly still ring true in this day and age. Now it’s sometimes hard for a family to find time to gather around a dinner table together. Talking is sometimes replaced by televisions or electronic devices with games and 
texts.
Movies are shared watching time but does anybody “endure listening to any book literally word by word?” Her use of the word “endure” makes me smile. And yet I think it might be nice to read aloud. I know some couples who do read books to one another while they are on road trips. My husband and I haven’t done that, but we have listened to audio books and let somebody else do the reading aloud.
Audible books seem to be getting more popular, so maybe we are ready to “endure” those books word by word. My two recent books, These Healing Hills and River to Redemption are both new Audible books. It’s fun to think about people listening to my books while they are riding in a car or maybe while doing chores around the house or just when they want to relax and let somebody else do the reading for them. River to Redemption has an attractive audio price right now an Amazon.
So have you ever read a book aloud to another adult? Do you ever listen to audio books?
Do you think sometimes we are in and out of that railroad station Emily Post mentions and don’t stop enough to enjoy family time?
As always, thanks for reading. Silently or aloud. 🙂
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Years ago, my aunt, who was losing her eyesight, asked that I record a book for her. It was a romance that she loved. So, over the course of several weeks, I recorded the book on cassette tapes. I’ve never liked the sound of my voice on tape. I felt self -conscious but I persevered. She said she loved it. She said it was good to reconnect with old friends.
Author
Isn’t it funny how we can not sound a thing the way we think we sound when he hear our voices recorded, Judy? The first time I heard my voice on a recording I was in high school. For a while, I intended to never speak again. LOL. But I couldn’t keep my mouth shut that long. I still don’t particularly like the sound of my voice, but I have done recordings. I did a podcast that came out recently. I could have sounded better, for sure.
Glad you were able to read and record the book your aunt wanted. Characters in books can be like old friends and you obviously made your aunt happy.
Mercy! What memories this writing brought back. Some good: like reading Heidi or Where The Red Fern Grows, chapter by chapter, of the evenings when the Bigs were little. Some melancholy: like reading magazines and mail and prescription bottles to my grandfather after macular degeneration took hold of his eyes. Some: preciously hopeful as I sat by that same grandfather’s bedside and read Rudyard Kipling’s Gunga Din and the Psalms and Isaiah in the few days before he died. Some instructional: as I read the entire work of Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka aloud to my community college students, then explicated that reading. Some frustrating: like reading aloud my works in progress to self edit.
But there is something satisfying and freeing when we release those words to the wind, isn’t there?
Author
Sweet and wise comments, Kristy. So many ways to feel about reading. I’m always impressed with how you come up with such great way to express yourself. And I’m guessing you might be too critical on those words of your own. All the ones I’ve read that you’ve written seem very near perfection.
Words to the wind. I need to remember that to write another blog post someday. Not sure what I’ll write, but I do like the way that sounds.
Most of my reading out loud is to toddlers these days. Or reading the Bible to my Sunday school class of preteens. My grandfather used to read his Bible out loud, even when he didn’t have an audience.
Every summer I work with the Fueling the Minds program with the library, where we offer lunch and a story time to the community. I read children’s books to the group, and there’s usually adults present too. I think the adults enjoy it as much as the kids. But I don’t recall ever reading an adult book out loud to anyone. I love reading, so that sounds like something I should make a point of doing some time…maybe at a nursing home. Thanks for giving me that idea, Ann!
Enjoy this beautiful Monday!
Author
Sounds as if you must be a talented out loud reader, Lavon. Not everybody is, you know. I’ve always loved reading to kids. All ages. The magic of story. I like thinking about your grandfather reading his Bible out loud. Maybe I’ll try that. I have the feeling it would make Bible study better. I had already wondered if there might be senior citizens in nursing homes who would enjoy being read aloud to. I’m guessing some would. Many nursing homes have singers come in and preachers. Maybe a reading or story time might be good too.
Lunch and a story. That could fuel my mind. Sounds very fun.
I still love to read aloud and sometimes when I am alone I do. There is still something to be said for hearing the words out loud, even if you are the only one listening.
Author
You are so right, Joy. It has to be the right book but the words of a story can have a special rhythm. When I’m not too pressed by a deadline, I like to read my story aloud on the last edit run through. That’s a great way to find something that doesn’t quite work or isn’t smooth writing. Your eye misses it but your ear hears it.
You mentioning “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” brought back memories! Our nieces and nephews loved that book and so did my Second Grade students over the years. I am retired now and our nieces and nephews have grown up and have kids of their own. I had put “Mike Mulligan…” away but I must get it out for our ‘Greats’. I’m sure that they will enjoy it, too.
Growing up, we did not have a television (didnt get one until I was in college) so our parents read to us every night… sometimes even after we learned to read on our own. It was not uncommon for everyone in the house to be reading a book with music playing in the background. Music was also a big part of our lives. Mama and Daddy sang in revivals around the area and many Friday evenings the neighbors would come over and we would play and sing music. Sometimes we kids would play “Kick the Can” outside in the dark…using the light from a window to see the can…until our parents would call us in to help sing. I am so thankful to God and my parents for these wonderful memories.
I still read..alot..but other than reading scripture to others in my Wednesday Night Bible Study, I haven’t read to an adult for quite awhile.
Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories and for writing such memorable books. God Bless You and Yours this new year…2019.
Author
Thank you, Connie, for sharing those sweet memories. My cousins and I also played out in the dark, but we usually played hide and seek. That was sometimes scary for me, often the youngest of the bunch. 🙂 My family wasn’t a singing family but when I hear about families that did those sing fests together, I always think how fun that must have been.
Mike Mulligan was a good book with that never give up message. My other children and my grandchildren never loved it the way my son did, but we did read it often.
I hadn’t thought about how we do still read Scripture aloud to one another in Bible studies. Always good to do.